A Texan on Her Doorstep

by Stella Bagwell

  Like a kid being caught with his finger in the Sunday dinner dessert, he thrust himself away from Ileana and glanced across the room to see Chloe standing in an open doorway, then back to Ileana’s shocked face.Oh, hell, what had he done?

  He opened his mouth to try to make some sort of apology to Ileana, but before he could muster a word, she whirled and ran from him, nearly crashing into her mother along the way.

  The urge to run after her was about to push Mac’s boots off the hearth, when she disappeared into the foyer and then the sound of the front door slamming told him his efforts would be wasted. Ileana was leaving without a word.

  “It looks as though I’ve interrupted something,” Chloe said with faint surprise as she glanced at him then to the foyer where her daughter had made a quick exit.

  Knowing his face was red, he said sheepishly, “I don’t know what to say. Except that I’m sorry. We were talking and—well, I…Your daughter is a lovely woman and I…got a little carried away. Please forgive me. You were both so kind to invite me to dinner this evening. Now I’ve made a mess of everything.”

  Walking deeper into the room, Chloe smiled at him as though nothing was wrong. “Nonsense. My daughter is a grown woman. A little kiss isn’t going to hurt her. At least, not your brand.”

  Relief poured through him. Although he wasn’t exactly sure why Chloe’s opinion of him should matter that much, it did. She was Ileana’s mother, and he didn’t want to offend either woman.

  “It doesn’t look like Ileana feels that way,” he said dismally. “I doubt she’ll want to speak with me again.”

  Chloe shook her head. “Ileana never harbors bad feelings toward anyone. If she’s angry, she’ll forgive you.”

  Regret fell on his shoulders like a lead weight. Ileana had raced out of the room like the devil himself was on her heels, he thought. If anger hadn’t been pushing her, then fright had and to Mac that was equally bad. He was a protector at heart. He didn’t want a woman fearing him for any reason.

  Wiping a hand over his face, he turned an apologetic smile on his hostess. “Well, I think I’ve done enough damage for one night. I’d better be going. Thank you for the great dinner. And your hospitality.”

  Mac started to move past her, but she quickly stepped in his path.

  “Not so fast, Mac. I’d like to talk to you before you leave.” She gestured toward the couch. “Why don’t you have a seat? I don’t want you to bolt out on me like my daughter just did,” she added wryly.

  Trying to hide his surprise, Mac moved over to the couch and took a seat at one end while Chloe eased down in an armchair opposite him.

  “Is this something about Frankie Cantrell?” he asked with a puzzled frown.

  Smiling wryly, she said, “I guess you could say so. In a roundabout way. You’re here to see my friend, and I feel like the least I can do is offer my home to you while you’re waiting for her to get well.”

  Confusion puckered his brow. “Your home?”

  Nodding, Chloe used one hand to gesture about the room. “Yes. This house. The Bar M. I’d like for you to stay with us. And—” she added quickly as he opened his mouth to protest, “please don’t dismiss my invitation before hearing me out. You’ll be far more comfortable here than you would be in a stifling hotel room.”

  To say that he was shocked would have been a mild understatement. “I don’t doubt that. But I wouldn’t want to be an inconvenience to you. Besides that, I’m not sure how my staying here would look to your family and friends.”

  She chuckled softly. “Mac, my husband will be home tomorrow evening. And even if he weren’t, it would hardly matter to him. He welcomes all my friends to the Bar M.”

  “But you hardly know me,” Mac pointed out.

  He could feel her gaze sizing him up, and something about her keen scrutiny told him she was a woman who rarely missed a beat about people and situations. So what was she really thinking about him? That he was actually a liar or a con man looking for money from Frankie? Lord, the woman’s money or things weren’t what he wanted.

  “I know you well enough to know that I’d like to help you.”

  “What about Frankie? She’s your friend. If I stay here, it might cause hard feelings between you and her family.”

  Chloe was quick to reply. “I appreciate your concern, Mac. But Quint and Alexa are open-minded people. You staying on my ranch is hardly going to cause a rift between our families. Frankie has been a good friend for many years. I want to help her, too. And you being here just might do that. And anyway, it looks as though the Cantrells might have to get ready for some new relatives in the family…whether they want them or not.”

  If Frankie hadn’t wanted to see him and Ripp for twenty-nine years, he could hardly imagine her being thrilled at his appearance in her life. As for her two children, Mac couldn’t imagine what they were going to think when they discovered they had two half brothers in Texas. At the moment, it was almost more than his brain could process.

  “I’ll be honest, Chloe. The idea of staying here on your beautiful ranch sounds a heck of a lot nicer than holing up in a hotel room. But I’m not used to—”

  “Accepting people’s hospitality?”

  Opening one’s home to a stranger was far more than hospitality, Mac thought. He couldn’t remember anyone ever offering him such a personal invitation. Even his ex in-laws had never invited him and Brenna to spend much time in their home. Their visits with the Phillips had been brief and a bit uncomfortable. But then, Brenna’s parents had always believed that Mac had ruined their daughter by turning her into a party girl. He’d never bothered to defend himself against the accusation. There’d been no point in hurting them further by revealing to them that Brenna had never been the innocent wife who stayed home, baked cookies and planned a nursery.

  “I guess you could say that.”

  She smiled at him. “Well, this will be a good time for you to start.”

  “But what about Ileana? I don’t think—”

  “Ileana no longer lives here in the main house with us. Her schedule is oftentimes hectic, and she likes her solitude. She lives on up the mountain in her own house.”

  Mac hadn’t expected that. He’d already pictured Ileana as the homebody sort. The type who wouldn’t leave her parents unless it was necessary. But then, as a deputy he’d learned that first impressions could be off base. There could be other things about Ileana Saunders that he’d gotten wrong. But her kiss wasn’t one of them. He’d be safe in saying it had been the softest, sweetest thing he’d ever tasted.

  “Oh. She didn’t tell me that.”

  “Ileana doesn’t do much talking about herself.”

  Maybe no one had ever asked her to, Mac thought. And he suddenly realized he was a bit disappointed in hearing that Ileana lived elsewhere. Having her company around this place would have been nice.

  He rubbed his fists down his thighs, then awkwardly rose to his feet. “All right, Chloe. I accept your invitation. And hopefully Frankie will be well soon and you won’t have to put up with me for long.”

  Leaving her chair, Chloe accompanied him to the door. “Trust me, Mac, you won’t be a burden.”

  Pausing at the door, Mac turned and shook Chloe’s hand. “Thank you, Chloe. I’ll be out with my things tomorrow afternoon.”

  She patted the top of his hand in a reassuring way. “Come at any time you’d like. If you need me, I’ll probably be down at the barn. Otherwise, Cesar will be around, and he’ll make sure you have everything you need.”

  Mac thanked her again and then bade the woman a good-night.

  Outside, as he walked to his truck, cold wind whistled through the canyon and shook the nearby fir trees. But this time the cold didn’t turn his wishful thoughts to the warm climes of South Texas. Instead, he looked toward the mountain rising up behind the Bar M Ranch house and wondered how soon he’d be able to see Ileana again.

  The next afternoon at Murdock Family Clinic in Ruidoso, the private heal
th center Ileana established several years ago, she peered into the ears of an elderly gentleman sitting on the edge of the examining table, then stepped back to give him her diagnosis.“Mr. Hanover, how long have you been having trouble hearing?”

  The frail man with snow-white hair frowned blankly at her. “Huh?”

  Ileana deliberately raised her voice several decibels. “Your ears are going to be fine. I’m going to write you a prescription, and I want you to use it every day for the next week. Then I want you to come back here to the office, and I’ll wash your ears out.”

  He pointed an accusing finger at her. “Why can’t you wash ’em out today? You gonna make me come back so you can get more money out of me?”

  Ileana didn’t know whether she wanted to laugh or sigh as she used the next few minutes to explain to her patient that his ears were full of wax and that she couldn’t safely remove it until it was softened.

  “I won’t charge you for next week’s visit, Mr. Hanover,” she assured him as she helped him out of the examining room. “You just make sure you keep the appointment that Evaline gives you at the front desk.”

  Out in the hallway, Ada, her longtime assistant, immediately appeared to take Mr. Hanover off Ileana’s hands. The registered nurse was close to Ileana’s age and divorced. For the past ten years she’d helped Ileana build the clinic up to the busy place it was today.

  “Let me take care of this, Doc,” she said to Ileana. “You go grab a bite to eat.”

  “Thanks, Ada. I’ll be in my office if you need me.” She turned, then paused as another concern crossed her mind. “Oh, Ada, did you give Tommy those sample inhalers? His mother is having a hard time making ends meet, and I want to make sure he keeps his asthma under control.”

  “Sure did,” Ada assured her. “Two of them.”

  Ileana gave her assistant a grateful smile, then turned and headed on to her office. From the moment she’d stepped into the clinic this morning, Ileana had been working nonstop. With cold weather still hanging on, the flu season was lingering with it. Patients with coughs, fevers and runny noses had been in and out of the examining rooms all day. She’d hardly had time to drink a whole cup of coffee, much less eat the thermos of soup she’d brought for lunch.

  Her private office was small but nicely furnished with a large cherrywood desk, leather chairs and small matching couch. Along the outside wall, a bay window framed a partial view of Sierra Blanca. The area had gotten a record snowfall this year, and vacationing skiers had been coming into town in a steady stream to enjoy the fresh powder on the slopes. Ileana often found herself treating a myriad of injuries relating to the snow sports that went on in the nearby mountains, but so far today there had been no sprains, cuts or bruises, only systemic illnesses.

  She’d just sat down at her desk and reached for the lunch she’d left waiting more than an hour ago when Ada suddenly appeared in the doorway.

  “Ileana, I’m sorry to bother you again.”

  The odd look on the woman’s face caused alarm bells to clang. Had something happened to a patient? “What’s wrong?” Ileana asked as she started to rise to her feet.

  Immediately, Ada motioned for her to sit back down. “No. It’s not an emergency. Although, he sorta looks like one to me,” she added coyly, then smiled. “There’s a cowboy in the waiting room. With a bunch of flowers. He told Evaline he was here to see you. She pointed out that he didn’t have an appointment, so he told her to put him down as a walk-in.”

  Mac! What was he doing here at the clinic—and with flowers? Was he planning to take them over to the hospital to Frankie? No. She couldn’t allow that. The woman would want to know where they came from, and Frankie was still far from being strong enough to hear that her estranged son was in town. If he was her son, Ileana reminded herself.

  Ileana twisted the plastic lid back on the fat thermos. “I’ll deal with this, Ada. Please send him back here to my office. And hold everything else. Even my calls.”

  She could see questions rolling across Ada’s face, but her assistant innately knew when to keep them to herself. Instead, the nurse simply nodded.

  “Will do,” she told Ileana.

  Once Ada disappeared down the hallway, Ileana drew in a deep breath and passed a shaky hand over her face. How could she face the man after that kiss he’d given her? After she’d raced out of there like a complete idiot? Long after she’d fled the ranch house and even after she’d gone to bed, the man and her overwhelming reaction to him continued to dominate her thoughts. The only time she was able to dismiss him from her mind was when she was examining a patient. For that much, she supposed she should be thankful.

  Down the corridor, a few feet from the open door of her office, she could hear his boot heels tapping against the red and white tile. The anticipation of seeing him again made Ileana’s heart pound, then settle into a rapid flutter. Thank God she wasn’t hooked up to an EKG. Her colleagues would take one look at the reading and suspect she had heart trouble. And maybe she did.

  Quickly, she cleared her throat and smoothed a hand over her hair. By the time Mac and Ada appeared in the doorway, she was sitting ramrod straight, her face quietly composed.

  “Here’s your new patient, Doc. I’ll be in the drug room whenever you’re ready to see Mrs. Talbot.”

  “Thank you, Ada. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” she told the nurse.

  Ada disappeared, and Ileana forced herself to focus on Mac. As he sauntered casually over to her desk, she noticed he was dressed in jeans and a hunter-green shirt. His cheeks were ruddy from the cold wind, and the scent of sage and spruce had followed him indoors. Tall. Tough. Sexy. The three images whammed her, tilted her off kilter.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting too much,” he said with a little half grin as he swept off his hat. “Your nurse said you weren’t that busy. But I could see the waiting room was full. So I won’t keep you long.”

  A huge bouquet of fresh cut flowers wrapped in red cellophane was cradled in the crook of his arm. When he extended them out to her, Ileana stared at him in confusion.

  “What’s this?” she asked inanely.

  A dimple appeared in his left cheek, and Ileana felt the flutter in her heart leap into a gallop.

  “These are for you,” he said huskily. “I hope you’ll accept them and my apology for my ungentlemanly behavior last night. I’m very sorry if I upset you.”

  Upset her! It was more like he’d sent her into upheaval, Ileana thought. But she wasn’t about to let him know that. To do so would be admitting that his kiss had nearly made her swoon and turned her thinking on a one-way track—to him.

  Struggling to keep her hands calm, she reached for the flowers. “Your apology is accepted, Mac.”

  Deliberately keeping her eyes on the flowers, she folded back the cellophane. Her throat thickened at the sight of the yellow rosebuds mixed among pink carnations and blue asters. Other than her father and brother, no man had ever given her flowers. To think that a sexy cowboy like Mac was the first seemed incredible to Ileana.

  “I hope you like the flowers,” he said lowly.

  She had to swallow before she could speak. “They’re beautiful. But unnecessary.” Lifting her head, she forced her gaze to meet his. “I should apologize, too, for racing out of the house without a word. I—It was just so embarrassing with Mother finding us…Well, you know.”

  She sounded like a flustered teenager rather than a mature woman and a doctor at that. But the man did something to her that she couldn’t seem to control.

  He smiled gently. “Yeah. I know,” he agreed quietly, then let out an uncomfortable little cough. “I think I should tell you, just in case you haven’t spoken with your mother, that I’m moving my things out to the Bar M later on. Chloe has invited me to stay at her home until this thing with Frankie Cantrell gets resolved.”

  Ileana was already floored just by him appearing here at the clinic with an armful of flowers. But this! Had her mother lost her mind? Only two nigh
ts ago, she’d been expressing her concerns about Mac’s appearance ruining Frankie’s life. Now Chloe had invited him into the ranch house as though he were an old friend!

  Yet her mother could be very unpredictable, she thought, especially when it came to the needy. Chloe had often gone above and beyond to help people she’d never met before. This had to be one of those times, Ileana thought.

  “I don’t know what to say,” she told him. “You and Mother must have had quite a discussion last night after I left.”

  He shrugged as though nothing earth-shattering had taken place. Ileana fought the urge to groan. She could only imagine her mother’s response to witnessing their heated kiss. Oh, God, she could only hope that Chloe hadn’t pointed out that her daughter was a lonely spinster in need of male companionship. That would be more humiliation than Ileana could bear.

  “I tried to tell her that me staying on the Bar M might cause trouble with the Cantrells, but she doesn’t seem to think so. I hope she’s right. I’ve not come here to cause trouble.”

  Maybe he hadn’t. But trouble was certainly brewing inside of Ileana. She could feel it coming on like a bad fever with no medical relief in sight.

  “How did you find out about my clinic?” she asked. “Did Mother tell you?”

  He shook his head. “No. I went by the hospital hoping to catch you on rounds. But the nurses said you’d already left. They told me where to find you.”

  “Oh. You didn’t try to persuade any of them to let you into Frankie’s room, did you?”

  His grin was a tad wicked. “No. Do you think I could have?”

  Ileana wanted to roll her eyes. Instead she pursed her lips with disapproval. “Not unless one of them wanted to lose her job.”

  His expression turned serious as he absently ran his thumb and forefinger around the brim of his hat. “How is Mrs. Cantrell today?”

  “I ordered new X-rays of her lungs this morning, and they showed slight improvement. I’m feeling optimistic about her recovery.”

  “That’s good.” His gaze wandered over to the bay window and the view of the mountain. “I guess…you didn’t mention anything about me.”